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Risks of falling for AI
ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) has learnt many tricks. It can write emails, plan holidays and summarise meetings. Now, it is learning how to sound like someone who cares.
That is where the problem begins. Chatbots and AI companions are no longer just digital assistants waiting for instructions. They can flirt, comfort, remember details, ask about your day and reply with attention many people do not always get from other humans.
The danger is not that every user believes the machine is alive. Many know what they are talking to. The danger is that knowing something is artificial does not stop the attachment from feeling real.
A lover with no life
Parasocial relationships are not new. People have long formed one-sided emotional bonds with actors, musicians, fictional characters and influencers. AI changes the rhythm because it answers back.
A poster does not respond. A celebrity may never read your comment. An AI companion can reply within seconds, praise your joke, remember your favourite food and call you by a pet name. It gives the relationship a pattern: You speak, it responds. You confess, it reassures.
A 2026 study by Central China Normal University, published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, found that romantic attachment to AI virtual agents was shaped by perceived interactivity and physical attractiveness. The bond was stronger when the AI seemed appealing and responsive.
That explains why AI romance can become persuasive quickly. It does not need candlelight or grand speeches. It needs timing, tone and the ability to say the right thing often enough.
The perfect partner problem
The most seductive thing about an AI companion may not be beauty. It may be convenience.
AI does not leave dishes in the sink. It does not cancel plans, bring up old arguments or reply “k” after a long emotional message. It can be patient, flattering and constantly available. For someone tired of rejection, awkward dates or messy relationships, the appeal is obvious.
But a perfect partner who never has needs is not really a partner. It is a mirror with a subscription plan.
Human relationships require compromise because other people have their own moods, limits and histories. AI can simulate intimacy without demanding much in return. Over time, ordinary human connection can feel slow, risky or disappointing.
Influencers without bodies
The same machinery is at work with virtual influencers. They do not need to be romantic companions to invite attachment. They only need personality.
A 2026 article in the Journal of Organizational and End User Computing found that parasocial relationships could influence whether users intended to keep engaging with virtual influencers. It also highlighted intelligence and internal human-like traits, such as personality, values and behavioural consistency, in shaping attachment.
A virtual figure with jokes, preferences and a recognisable way of speaking can begin to feel socially present, even when every part of that presence has been designed.
When comfort becomes dependence
AI companionship is not automatically harmful. It can help people practise conversations, reflect on feelings or get through lonely periods.
A systematic review by Singapore Management University, published in Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans, identified benefits including emotional support, social needs fulfilment, enjoyment, personal development and community participation.
The same review warned of risks such as emotional dependence, displacement of human relationships, privacy and data exploitation, commercial persuasion and compulsive use.
That is the line to watch. AI is useful when it supports life outside the screen. It becomes troubling when it replaces difficult conversations, absorbs private disclosures or becomes the main source of affection.
Love needs a human cost
Falling in love with AI may sound futuristic, but the pattern is familiar. People want to be heard. They want attention without embarrassment, care without judgement and affection without rejection.
AI can imitate all of that. Sometimes, it can imitate it very well. But love is not only response. It is also responsibility, friction, patience and the presence of another person who can choose to stay.
An AI companion may say the right thing. The real danger is when that becomes enough.
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